How to Rectify Overpayment / Misreporting?

[eaames888]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I was laid off from my job in December and began collecting unemployment each week in January.

Six weeks ago, I accepted a freelance position in which I was paid three times a week for writing a blog post for less than $20. I was only getting <$50/week as a result of this. I had no idea, however, that that counted as one day's worth of work until I read the NYS handbook last night.

What would be the best way to resolve this quickly? I did the math and it seems that if those days counted as full days, I would owe the DOL about ~$1,600. I have the means to pay it in full and the penalty if needed. (which would bring it to ~$1800)

It was an honest mistake on my part due to my misunderstanding of what constituted a work day and I want to fix this ASAP. I am super worried that something bad will happen to me. I read some forums in this case that calling the DOL and trying to resolve the issue is a bad idea and that I should hire a lawyer but that to me seems extreme?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[cbg]

Wait for a poster named Commentator to respond to this. She knows more about this than anyone and you can take her answers to the bank.

 

[commentator]

Okay, please do not listen to those forums that say don't call them, get yourself a lawyer, don't admit to anything blah blah. I don't know why some people who don't know want to pretend that you're in a heap of trouble and that you're going to be going down to the DA and turning yourself in or something. I have worked for many years with U.I. and in particular with fraud issues. I pretty much have a very good idea what I am talking about.

Honestly, the agency has no interest in prosecuting you, especially at this point, for something like this reporting issue you're having, and in order to prosecute you, they'd have to do a full fraud investigation, which they certainly haven't done yet, and then turn you over to the DA and recommend you be prosecuted, and at that point, it might be a good idea to get a lawyer.

Your failure to report this income has not even been noticed by them yet. This is by far the very best time for you to solve this problem.

And the way to do it is, immediately, this week, right now, call and speak with a living human being. Explain exactly what you have done. The mistake you have made is your failure to report the income. They do not care if you did it due to ignorance or willful desire to cheat the system. They do not care whether or not you admit guilt. It just is what it is.

You have made it a lot more worry for yourself by attempting to interpret the NY handbook without having much knowledge about how the system works. It's not up to you, and you do not have to go in and argue with the agency about what they will do or how this will be handled. Just talk to them. They will be familiar with this type situation, will be able to help you. Keep records of who you speak with and what date. Do what they tell you to do.

In almost every state, there is a provision for working and having a little bit of income in a week. Your $50 probably does not come up to the amount that is even considered as true employment. You are supposed to report it, and let them determine whether to count it or not. But you did not understand, and you did not do this. But it was a very small amount, and the sooner you bring it out and deal with it, the better it will be for you.

The very best time to have an overpayment, if you do turn out to have an overpayment (and I actually don't even think you will turn out to have one once a decision is made in the circumstances you describe) is while you still have some benefits left to draw. Those benefits can be taken out to cover the overpayment as you draw them. Of course you will not be expected to immediately come up with the cash to cover a big overpayment as soon as you talk to them, because you do have the obvious situation of being unemployed. And no overpayment has been determined, and you're nowhere close to that right now.

As I said, first they'd have to investigate, to determine what you were paid, how many times you were paid, what types of wages this was, and whether it would have affected your benefit amount for that week if it was reported. And frankly, you do NOT have the expertise, and neither does any attorney you might hire, to even make a good guess to determine whether it was an overpayment or not. Much less to guestimate how much you might be fined or charged for your failure to report this work.

Call them, tell them exactly what is going on. Tell them which weeks you did the work, how you were paid, and let them decide whether you have any overpayment or not. As I said, in most states there is a minimum you can make without affecting your benefits for the week at all. And in most states, that amount is quite a bit more than $50. As for availability, you did the freelance writing jobs and were still making work searches and were still able, available and actively seeking full time work as well, weren't you?

This is very common. People do pick up work while drawing benefits all the time. The smart thing to do is clear it with them as soon as you can, make sure you report it correctly. And even if you didn't do it before you reported it incorrectly, it's much better to self report than to let it slide till they catch you. They will, eventually, find out that you did this work, and that is a little more complicated. So fix it right now, and you won't have it to worry about later.

Good luck with this, let us know how it comes out.

 

[cbg]

Thank you, commentator! That is what I told him on the other forum.

See, I'm learning!

 

[commentator]

I do observe, after reading their state laws specifically, that New York is really very sticky about how you work, how much you work, etc. So really, there might be some overpayment involved here. Funny, most of the southeastern states are much more lenient on this, though they have such dramatically lower weekly benefit amounts. I guess that they figure when you're only drawing a max of about $250 a week or less, you'll have to find other sources of income! So there may very well be some overpayment with even this tiny amount of work, possibly even penalties, but they will be the ones who are totally familiar with how it works, how much you'll be overpaid, etc. I assure you, you aren't the first one. You must work with them, let them work it all out for you.